


The Snap: A Vignette Collection

by rainydayadvocate



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Everyone Has Issues, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 21:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20122063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainydayadvocate/pseuds/rainydayadvocate
Summary: The Avengers had to deal with the deep remorse of failure in those years after the Snap. Their depression echoes that of the universe at large, but everyone has their own story. Everyone felt the immediate pain. For some, the pain ended five years later. For others, the pain only magnified.This vignette collection explores the lives of normal people, what we as a world do when half of everyone we love is gone, and how difficult it can be for them to come back.





	The Snap: A Vignette Collection

[ _Where the Pod are the Avengers? Episode 310 _]

**Vic: **Welcome to _Where the Pod are the Avengers?_ I'm your host, Victor Mellon, and—well, I haven't heard from Sean or Shawn since, you know, everything happened. Joining us today is Nisha, who you usually only hear from on Q&A sessions.

**Nisha: **This wasn't how I'd hope I'd make my debut on the podcast, but I am glad to be here. Glad to see so many people at work today.

**Vic: **Yeah. Almost two-thirds of our office is full. I think we can count ourselves pretty lucky.

**Nisha: **Very lucky, yes.

**Vic: **I guess there's no reason to keep beating around it. I don't know that we've ever had a week like this one for Avengers-relate news. Let's get into this weekend and what happened. It is being called the Snap, a disaster the Avengers were trying to prevent, and it was apparently caused by an extraterrestrial being called Thanos.

**Nisha: **Thanos. Did you ever think you could hate a name more than Hitler?

**Vic: **It's pretty incredible how quickly you can feel that hate, too. Took me about, oh, I don't know, ten seconds?

**Nisha: **Really? Took me maybe five seconds.

**Vic: **Heh, well, you've always been faster at the uptake than me. Anyway. Thanos, like most psychotic genocidal killers, apparently thought he was doing this for the greater good. As we understand it, this happened not just on Earth and not just in our galaxy, but across the known universe. Half of all life, gone. _Gone!_

**Nisha: **Vic—

**Vic: **It becomes more catastrophic the more you think about it. And, rather than think about it too much, we are being honored by Bruce Banner, one of the remaining Avengers, who has agreed to meet with us in the studio to help frame what is going on. Bruce, it's a real pleasure, truly. I just wish it had been under better circumstances.

**Bruce: **Vic, I am as happy as I could be to be here. You and your team have always been gracious to us, even when we haven't done our best. This weekend, surely, most of us did our best, but it was just not good enough.

**Vic: **You were at Ground Zero in Wakanda. What can you tell us about the events that led up to that fight and how the battle went down?

**Bruce: **I don't know if I'm really the right person for this, but, well, we are small in numbers at the moment, so I guess I'm as good as any. As you may or may not know, I ended up off-world for a few years. I was on my way back to Earth with the survivors of Asgard, Thor, and Loki, when Thanos attacked our ship, killing half of the remaining Asgardians. With Loki dead—

**Vic: **I'm sorry to interrupt, doctor, but can you confirm Loki's death?

**Bruce: **Yes. Loki was killed by Thanos. At least, he looked dead. Always hard to tell with a trickster god.

**Vic: **Wow. Strange how such big moments become so small.

**Nisha: **I'm going to miss his arrogant charm.

**Bruce: **Right...well. Thor was in bad shape, Loki was dead, and Heimdall knew we needed to get the message back to Earth, since we were surely one of his next targets. He sent me on to warn everyone here. We knew we had to protect all of the Infinity Stones in our possession, and attempt to reach the others before Thanos did. The problem was with every stone Thanos obtained, the more powerful he became, and the less power we had to overcome him.

**Vic: **So the battle of Wakanka was what exactly?

**Bruce: **We were in the process of destroying the Mind stone, one of the stones that has been on Earth, and Thanos was coming for it; it was the last stone he needed to complete his gauntlet and perform the Snap. The Battle of Wakanda was a stand off to stop him.

**Nisha: **But it didn't work.

**Bruce: **No. We failed.

**Vic: **I think it's a little unfair to—

**Bruce: **Please, Vic. No sugar coating necessary. We knew what we had to do and we couldn't. We failed, and half of the life in our universe paid the price for our error. Sokovia was an enormous mistake, one that divided us and broke the world's trust in us. Failing to keep the stones away from Thanos is that much more egregious.

[ _There is a long pause in the interview where a few sighs are exchanged_. ]

**Nisha: **I'm sure the weight of this moment is pressing on you, Dr. Banner, but I think you'll find that the world does not blame the Avengers for the actions of a man as power hungry and inhumane as Thanos.

**Bruce: **That's very nice of you to say.

**Nisha: **I think, honestly, people are looking to the Avengers again, more than they have since maybe 2012, because they need hope. You and the remaining members of the Avengers can help bring hope.

**Bruce: **I don't know that that's really true.

**Vic: **I do think you have the opportunity to set an example. You've had more time to grapple with this situation than the rest of us. What do you anticipate doing to pick yourself back up and move forward? And, do you have any advice for those listening out there today?

**Bruce: **Well, first of all, I have a penance to pay, because while I firmly believe all of my colleagues did everything they could, I did not. Not because I didn't want to, but because—well, I apparently have less control over the green guy than I thought. We were not at our best in Wakanda. After I make my peace with the role I did or didn't play in the battle, I need to find balance. We all need to find balance. If there's anything I leave with you today, let it be this: there is no one in this world who has not been touched by trauma this weekend. No family is whole, no school has full desks, no office has everyone they need to run successfully. These next few years will be the hardest in the history of our planet. Be a little nicer, a little more patient, and forgiving of yourself, and we'll get through this.

**Vic: **Is sounds like maybe you need to take some of that advice to heart yourself, Doctor. It's excellent advice. Thank you, so very much for joining us today.

**Bruce: **It's the least I can do.

**Vic: **I am going to go home, curl up with my dog, and pretend my bed isn't half empty. Nisha, what are you going to do tonight?

**Nisha: **There is a missing persons rally tonight in downtown Los Angeles. I think I belong there, helping people locate those who weren't reachable at the time of the Snap, and to make sure no one gets forgotten.

**Vic: **That's great. Thank you everyone for listening. This has been _Where the Pod Are the Avengers?_ and we'll be back with another update next week. Stay positive and we'll talk then.


End file.
